Big Gold Brick

Now, it was somewhat difficult for me to initially believe that the 2022 movie "Big Gold Brick" from writer and director Brian Petsos would be worthy of such a low rating as it had received here on IMDb, especially with the somewhat rather impressive cast ensemble that starred in the movie.

However, I had never heard about "Big Gold Brick" prior to sitting down to watching it, so I wasn't sure what I was in for here. But I opted to give the movie a chance and watch it, believing that it couldn't possibly be all that much of a waste of time.

But yeah, the low rating that "Big Gold Brick" has received here on IMDb is well-placed. This movie was a swing and a miss in every aspect. The storyline was just a completely unappealing and uninteresting heap of boredom. And the slow pacing of the narrative just didn't help win me over in the slightest. So sitting through "Big Gold Brick" is quite an arduous task.

Still, I am impressed with the names that they managed to lure into participating in the creation of this rubbish movie. The movie was starring the likes of Andy Garcia, Oscar Isaac and Megan Fox. How and why they opted to be a part of "Big Gold Brick" simply is beyond my comprehension.

There was very little, if none at all actually, appeal in "Big Gold Brick" for me, so this is not a movie that I would recommend you waste your time, money or effort on. Nor is it a movie that I will ever return to watch a second time. Some of us suffered through Brian Petsos's 2022 movie so you don't have to.

I am going to add to the dwindling rating that "Big Gold Brick" has accumulated, and will rate it a generous three out of ten stars, and that is mostly just because of the names on the cast list. Sure, the movie had a good production value as well, but without an interesting storyline it just meant almost nothing. And running at 132 minutes, the movie desperately needed a more round-handed trim in the editing room.

So this movie had one very important thing going for it, and that was the interesting characters. Each one had their own unique story that you wanted to find out what happened to each of them. This fact carried me all the way to the end. Now, did the story make sense, hell no. In fact the story was outrageous and far-fetched. The movie went of tracks around the grocery store scene and never really got back on. Seeing Fox in lingerie was the high point of this movie. Enjoyable, but way too long. I will be honest in saying, IF you decided to skip this one you will not be missing out on much.

What could go wrong with such a high quality cast & production that is so well connected? Well I had to see for myself. The performances were good considering what they were given to work with. A script that tries to cram too much flash & expose for its own good.

The plot like a Seinfeld episode has Floyd, played by Andy Garcia, accidentally hits Samuel (Emory Cohen) with his car. Unbeknownst to him, Samuel is very troubled individual. Feeling guilty, Floyd invites Samuel to stay with his family & to be his autobiographer.

I feel that this film tried too hard to be too many things. The script & direction needed more focus. I thought things would improve when Samuel moved in with Floyd's family. It had a Royal Tennebaum's vibe but the laughs were few & far between. Meagan Fox stole every scene that she was in but she was under utilized. The pacing was off & the movie as a whole suffered for this.

Disturbed Samuel thought that he was moving into home life that he never had. But little did he know that the family had their own quirks & issues. This should have led to more laughs but the first half of the movie moved at a glacial pace & the quirkiness that we hoped for never materialized.

That when the payoff comes at the end, it was just too rushed & everything too nicely tied up. Aside from the good performances & high production values, I can't honestly recommend this.

Dumb story imo, with poorly read and unnecessary narration, dialog unnatural and pretentious... overall I'd skip this. It just bored me. Andy Garcia was great but played opposite Emory Cohen in an awful Sam Kinneson wig, and acting is definitely not Emory's thing. Oscar Isaac's silly role wasn't interesting or funny.

And I don't think that's for some (trying to be) deep or pretentious reason. I think you have to remember that the storyteller is intended to be recovering from a traumatic brain injury. So we are being told a story through the lens of someone who has a contentious relationship with reality and an, at times, skewed perspective of people, objects, and the relationships between them. So the insanity (I mean that literally) blends with the story in a way that is inextricable and unpredictable. This is actually why I loved this movie. It is completely unpredictable ... I had no idea where anything was going until it got there, fantastic.

It's not for everyone and it's not some deep meaningful opus ... it's just a bit of fun insanity to take you away from the un-fun insanity of the real world.

The acting is solid (except for Megan Fox whose career will end when her looks do because that's all she relies on), it's wonderfully shot, and the soundtrack is oddly appropriate for the chaos it tries to imply.

Overall, solid film for a fun afternoon streaming at home. I would not pay for it though.